Come ask for Mercy

Mercy

MERCY is defined as compassion or forgiveness shown toward someone whom it is within one's power to punish or harm.

Who is it in your life, and in my life that has that kind of power? The Most power to punish or forgive?

The Government has some to punish or forgive,

And is much more prone to punish then forgive.

Someone greater than the Government

has the power to punish or forgive our sins,

every one of them.

Of course you know I’m talking about God.

In today's story we meet Blind Bartimaeus.

There is no mention of whether he had sinned,

or his parents had sinned,

But the story dwells on his desire for God’s Mercy.

His desire to received his sight.

Not everyone is physically blind, but we all have

sins and need God’s Mercy.

Our story takes place near Jericho, that city destroyed

by Joshua (Joshua 6:26)

and many years later rebuilt by Hiel (1 Kings 16:34)

at the cost of two of his children.

We will read from Mark chapter 10 this morning but you can also read the story from Matthew 20 or Luke 18.

Mark says Bartimaeus was healed as Jesus was leaving Jericho.

Matthew say the same thing but Luke says they were approaching Jericho.

Archaeologist tell us that there was an old and a new Jericho, the newest one having been built by Herod as a winter palace.

Let’s read the account from Marks Gospel

Mark 10:46–52 ESV

46 And they came to Jericho. And as he was leaving Jericho with his disciples and a great crowd, Bartimaeus, a blind beggar, the son of Timaeus, was sitting by the roadside. 47 And when he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to cry out and say, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!” 48 And many rebuked him, telling him to be silent. But he cried out all the more, “Son of David, have mercy on me!” 49 And Jesus stopped and said, “Call him.” And they called the blind man, saying to him, “Take heart. Get up; he is calling you.” 50 And throwing off his cloak, he sprang up and came to Jesus. 51 And Jesus said to him, “What do you want me to do for you?” And the blind man said to him, “Rabbi, let me recover my sight.” 52 And Jesus said to him, “Go your way; your faith has made you well.” And immediately he recovered his sight and followed him on the way.

Love at first sight

What do you think was,

the first thing that man saw,

when He received his sight?

The face of Jesus, the man speaking to Him.

Isn’t that awesome!

I’m looking forward to seeing Jesus face

my saviors face, some day when I leave

this life and and open my eyes anew

in Heaven.

There will be many many wonderful things to see in heaven

Streets of Gold

Mansions

12 giant pearl gates

12 foundations under Gods city

The River of Life

The Tree of life with it’s healing fruit every season

Bible characters

departed family members

But the face of my savior

will be the best sight of all!

Amen? Amen!

In a narrative story, I like to look at the characters involved and talk about the role they played in the story.

We have Jesus,

on his way to Jerusalem, but not too busy to heal Bartimaeus.

I like that Jesus is interrupt-able. He cares about people.

We have the disciples and the crowd, following Jesus

not wanting to allow any interruptions to Jesus plans.

So they shush the man, they rebuked him

they told him to be quiet.

Yet when Jesus heard Bartimaeus and called for him

the crowd was encouraging him

Take heart

Get up

He is calling you

The popular crowd are sure fickle

aren’t they?

One minute, shut up, be quiet, don’t interrupt

the next, come on, get up, He’s calling you.

Let’s look at the Mercy Bartimaeus was asking for.

Mercy Needed

Bartimaeus was blind.

In 33 AD that severely limits his ability to earn a living

Consequently, he was poor,

if there had been treatments for blindness, he would not have had money to pay for them.

The state of medicine in his day would have left him Hopeless.

The only thing Bartimaeus could hope for is help from God

Which prompted his calls for Mercy.

Mercy Requested

Mark 10:47 NIV

47 When he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to shout, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!”

This beggar was no dummy.

He heard the stories,

about Jesus healing,

about Jesus teachings

and knew Jesus was the Messiah

from the line of David.

He asked for the Right thing

Mercy on me.

If you received Mercy from God

your sins are forgiven

your relationships can be restored

you have hope for the future.

He asked the right person

He asked for help from Jesus, the son of David

Acts 4:12 NIV

12 Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to mankind by which we must be saved.”

If you really really wanted a Lamborghini,

And came to me pleadingly every day

Dave, buy me a Lamborghini!

I couldn’t

even if I wanted to.

But Bartimaeus did ask just anyone for mercy

He asked Jesus, the son of God for Mercy. And that is what he got.

He asked at the right time

If Bartimaeus had begged and pleaded for Jesus help, the day before he was walking by, help wouldn’t have come.

If he didn’t raise a fuss until Jesus and the crowd had passed by.

Today, Jesus the Holy Spirit is available 24 x 7 but

The you and I need to respond to God

when He is near

when He is calling

when you hear that still small voice

encouraging you to try something

or perhaps saying no

That is when you need to act

That is when you nee to respond

Now is always the right time to respond to God

Amen, are you with me?

Amen!!!!

Mercy Offered

Mark 10:49 NIV

49 Jesus stopped and said, “Call him.” So they called to the blind man, “Cheer up! On your feet! He’s calling you.”

Jesus stopped

He stopped what He was doing,

to respond to this one man’s plea.

He listens to our pleas today too.

pleas for help

for intercession

for mercy

Jesus called

He called

and notice how fast Bartimaeus responds to Jesus call

Mark 10:50 NIV

50 Throwing his cloak aside, he jumped to his feet and came to Jesus.

I have often been struck by the confidence in the blind man throughing off his cloak

to go see Jesus

To make his request for Mercy

face to face with Jesus.

I can’t imagine a blind man that didn’t

carefully and

orderly take care of his stuff

but Bartimaeus

Isn’t worried about losing his cloak

when there is a chance to get his sight.

Maybe he was sitting there covered by his cloak

using it like a blanket

When it came to getting to Jesus

it was just something in the way,

to be thrown off.

Sometimes we have things in our lives, that we need to toss aside

to get to Jesus.

Jesus Offered Mercy

Mark 10:51 NIV

51 “What do you want me to do for you?” Jesus asked him. The blind man said, “Rabbi, I want to see.”

Mercy was Enjoyed

Mark 10:52 NIV

52 “Go,” said Jesus, “your faith has healed you.” Immediately he received his sight and followed Jesus along the road.

Wow, a lot happened in verse 52

Jesus declared the man healed because of his faith in the mesiah

Immediately, the man was healed

while jesus was speaking the man was healed

can you imagine your life and sight coming into focus like that

while Jesus is declaring his good news to you?

and

that fast, your vision goes from nothing to something

there is Jesus smiling face

right in front of you.

Mercy enjoyed

Bartimaeus believed Jesus

Bartimaeus received healing from Jesus

Bartimaeus followed Jesus

Talk about a life change.

This man

Bartimaeus,

his life is changed.

He can’t go back to his old like of work

Blind men that can see,

don’t get much in their collection plates.

When we come to Jesus,

our lives should never be the same either.

Aren’t you glad for the gift of God’s Mercy.

Paul told the Ephesians

Ephesians 2:8 NIV

8 For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—

I am so glad for God’s good gifts.

How does this story relate to you and me?

The Mercy of God is far greater than just fixing our vision.

All of us start out with a need for God’s Mercy.

We start out spiritually blind

We start out morally bankrupt

all the money in the world would not buy our way into heaven

And without the good news of the Gospel, we would all be hopeless

without any hope of heaven or healing or restoration.

God put the desire on our hearts to come clean, to get right with Him

a desire to get the cure for our hearts and minds.

In His Word

In the Work of the Holy Spirit

He offers Mercy

if we will ask for it.

And if we believe his promises,

he grants us mercy and accepts us.

After coming to know Christ

from time to time, the Holy Spirit

points out things He wants to fix in us

Things we may have been blind to in the past

and now we can see them for what they are

sins of greet, jealousy, envy and anger

and many other thing

and He says,

ask me to fix that too.

Maybe today you are saved but God has been pulling on your heart

revealing something else you were blind to and

need His Mercy to over come.

Talk to him this morning as we sing and close in pray.

If you don’t have work to do at the altar this morning please join me in

joyfully singing the following song.

I Will Sing Of The Mercies (I Will Sing Of The Mercies Of The Lord)

Chorus

I will sing of the mercies of the Lord forever I will sing I will sing I will sing of the mercies of the Lord forever I will sing of the mercies of the Lord

Verse

With my mouth will I make known Thy faithfulness Thy faithfulness With my mouth will I make known Thy faithfulness to all generations

CCLI Song # 23316 James Henry Fillmore Sr. © Words: Public DomainMusic: Public DomainFor use solely with the SongSelect® Terms of Use. All rights reserved. www.ccli.com CCLI License # 11232550